October 21, 2016, 02:09:37 pm

The NX was revealed yesterday as the Switch, and basically all the rumors were true; it's a console/handheld hybrid with snap-away controllers where the sides of the controller either snap onto a sort of controller dock, or onto the sides of a portable screen you can take wherever.

Each half of the controller looks kind of like a short, flat Wiimote with a robust-looking analog stick (not sharing an x-position, 360-style), four buttons (XABY on one half, arrow buttons like the N64 on the other) and two other buttons; a Home and literally-shaped "plus" button on one half, and a "C" button and literally-shaped "minus" button on the other. Each half also has a shoulder button, possibly two.

Each controller half is layed out in such a way that you could use them like a pair of Wiimotes, so two people could play on one screen on-the-go. And indeed, you can play without hooking the controller halves up to anything, just holding them like a wireless Wiimote and Nunchuck.

The console apparently comes with a default controller dock for couch play that is basically just a rectangle that the halves snap on to. It looks like it has separate battery LED indicators for each side. The dock itself may or may not be touch sensitive. It's not known whether the screen is touch sensitive, though. It wasn't used that way in the reveal trailer. (My guess is it DOES have touch functionality, but they avoided showing it off in the reveal trailer to distance themselves from the Wii U.)

There's also an optional Switch Pro Controller you can play with instead.

It does not appear that you can use the portable screen and the television simultaneously ala Wii U. To play on TV at all, you have to rest the screen into its dock, which shuts the screen off and indeed blocks it from view entirely.

The people playing the Switch were shown playing Breath of the Wild, Splatoon (possibly a sequel), a brand-new, "real" 3D Mario platformer and Skyrim.

Also, the console uses game cards which plug into the screen portion of the system, not CDs. Which, just let me say here, I'm quite happy about. Optical media is dead. It's been dead for a decade, it's about time major companies start abandoning it.

No real details were given, this was obviously a very preliminary teaser trailer slash hype generator, and nitty gritty details will come later. I'm actually quite curious as to whether the version of Skyrim shown was a Switch-made version, or whether the Switch can just run Steam (which I've suspected of the NX for a long while now, and would certainly be a selling point).

* * *

Okay, opinion time. As a lifelong Nintendo fan, I have to say. I'm kind of disappointed. I mean, the Switch is gonna be fun, it looks neat, it'll have Nintendo's killer first-party games which are always worth their systems on their own. If it plays mobile or Steam games, all the better.

But for the first time in a long time, this doesn't feel like, "ooh, something new." It feels like "portable Wii U." Which isn't exciting. And I love the Wii U.

More to the point, the Switch doesn't feel like Nintendo leading, forging ahead and being unique like they always are. It feels like an attempt to curry Xbox and Sony fans, plain and simple. Sony and Microsoft consoles have always been essentially interchangable, with Nintendo being this wacky, quirky, cartoony, unique third party. The Switch feels like just a generic modern console, regardless of being portable.

Maybe I'm not being fair. We barely know anything about it. And either way, I'm getting it on launch, like I did the Wii U and Wii. It's just...especially showing off Skyrim (a nearly five year old game at this point), it just feels like Nintendo is trying to be like any other generic modern console, rather than their bizzare usual selves. And that's kind of sad.

Also, you can sort of view this as Nintendo giving up on the console market. The Switch is essentially a handheld, just with a default way to play on a television. Which is also kind of sad.

As someone who bought a Wii U on launch day, what I've seen of the Switch makes me think it's what the Wii U always should have been. I was sorely disappointed with the Wii U for a whole bunch of reasons (poor gamepad battery life, poor wireless range, an almost nonexistent launch lineup, not actually doubling as a portable despite being hyped up as a 3DS XXL/console hybrid, the list goes on) and despite the goofy snap-on controllers, I think it has a lot of potential.

The Wii U isn't a terrible system by any means, despite what the PS/Xbox diehards will tell you (and this is coming from someone who loved his PS2 back in the sixth gen), so if the Switch can improve on its flaws without compromising elsewhere, I can't imagine it won't be successful.

miniSphere 5.1.3 - Cell compiler - SSj debugger - thread | on GitHubFor the sake of our continued health I very much hope that Fat Cerberus does not become skilled enough at whatever arcane art it would require to cause computers to spawn enourmous man eating pigs ~Rhuan

To be honest, while I can see why this system disappoints many people, it's the perfect system for me. It's about as powerful a handheld as you can get at the moment (at an affordable price) while also providing you with an option to play it on the big screen. I'm a big mobile gamer, though I play at home a lot (say, in bed), and I can choose to sometimes play it on the TV or on the small screen and still be able to take it with me everywhere.

Also, the console uses game cards which plug into the screen portion of the system, not CDs. Which, just let me say here, I'm quite happy about. Optical media is dead. It's been dead for a decade, it's about time major companies start abandoning it.

The Turbografx-16 was truly a game card system that had the ability to be used on both their console and handheld TurboExpress system. The Switch's games are still a cartridge based system. While the game is slightly smaller than that of the Gameboy or Gameboy Advance system game I wouldn't really define it as a "card."

I honestly think Switch cartridges are TOO small. They're even smaller than (3)DS carts, which is weird as the console is double the size.

miniSphere 5.1.3 - Cell compiler - SSj debugger - thread | on GitHubFor the sake of our continued health I very much hope that Fat Cerberus does not become skilled enough at whatever arcane art it would require to cause computers to spawn enourmous man eating pigs ~Rhuan

I honestly think Switch cartridges are TOO small. They're even smaller than (3)DS carts, which is weird as the console is double the size.

Make them smaller so their easier to lose and you have to spend money on another copy...if it is a game you enjoy playing.

Although, I haven't really kept up with Nintendo since the days of the Gamecube. They became just another big company that wants to up their prices on consoles and games. Not to mention, that they also went through a period of just rereleasing their original NES games on other Nintendo platforms to make money and Sega bringing Sonic to Nintendo... not right. In my mind, its akin to Lucas rereleasing countless versions of the original Star Wars series. Didn't need to be done. Just like they didn't need to re-edit Return of the Jedi to replace the original Anakin with the one from the prequels.

I don't think that's entirely fair, their first- and second-party games are still just as fun as they always were. You act as if they've become totally lazy as company when that's not what I've seen at all: They still consistently put out quality titles, it's just that they take flak from gamers for having subpar hardware (which they do, not going to lie). It's different than so many AAA studios that keep re-releasing the same game over and over again (see: Call of Duty or pretty much any FPS nowadays), sure Nintendo has their core Mario, Zelda, etc. but each one always brings something new to the table despite the common IP and all are quality titles.

Point taken on the NES re-releases though, those are just lazy.

miniSphere 5.1.3 - Cell compiler - SSj debugger - thread | on GitHubFor the sake of our continued health I very much hope that Fat Cerberus does not become skilled enough at whatever arcane art it would require to cause computers to spawn enourmous man eating pigs ~Rhuan

I don't think that's entirely fair, their first- and second-party games are still just as fun as they always were. You act as if they've become totally lazy as company when that's not what I've seen at all: They still consistently put out quality titles, it's just that they take flak from gamers for having subpar hardware (which they do, not going to lie).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to imply that they've slacked as a company where games are concerned and I'm sure that they do still make fun and enjoyable games.

Hardware: As you put it 'subpar'. They used to be an industry leader and now they've fallen behind all the others. To me it seems like they're just releasing a system to coincide with the other big names, Xbox Playstation and not really taking the time to build a truly quality system. I remember when they held themselves to a higher standard...

Don't really see that anymore because if you look at recent ones... They dropped "Quality" from the seal.

Again, don't get me wrong, I still own my original NES and a collection of games. Still have my Gamecube also...

Quote

It's different than so many AAA studios that keep re-releasing the same game over and over again (see: Call of Duty or pretty much any FPS nowadays), sure Nintendo has their core Mario, Zelda, etc. but each one always brings something new to the table despite the common IP and all are quality titles.

Too true, FPS have become very generic-ish and it is pretty much the same game over and over and over again. I have played a few of the CoD titles and they are very similiar.

Love it! Be warned if you had a launch model the battery might have issues, which resulted in cracks and bulging batteries.

Thanks for the heads-up. Mine is very lightly used but I'll be sure to be on the lookout for any battery issues from now on.

miniSphere 5.1.3 - Cell compiler - SSj debugger - thread | on GitHubFor the sake of our continued health I very much hope that Fat Cerberus does not become skilled enough at whatever arcane art it would require to cause computers to spawn enourmous man eating pigs ~Rhuan

I got a switch at release and had a lot of fun with Zelda BOTW for a while but haven't touched it much since - I haven't really played games for several months now, I've been coding instead, though I'm looking forward to Xenoblade 2 - I was kinda obsessed with Xenoblade X on the Wii U for a long time.

The seal of quality was absolutely meaningless as you could find it on anything and everything that wasn't pirate/bootleg stuff. Many, many garbage games have that exact "seal of quality" on them, from NES all the way up to now. (I didn't know they still even had it.)

I just feel that Nintendo has been stronger at making games than the ecosystem around it. They seem to consistently suck, or at the very least "not get it", when it comes to managing their fan base, interfaces, social media et cetera. That said, things seem a bit of an improvement on the Switch side of things.

Speaking of the Switch, huh. I still want one, still don't have one. My woes of being strapped for cash will be over soon!